Ligature-container.



No. 861,853. I PATBNTED JULY 30, 1907.

B. K. HOLLISTER.

LIG'ATURE CONTAINER. LPPLIOATIOH FILED 00-121. 190a.

lilW-Wli UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BERTRAM K. HOLLISTER, or oIIIoAeo, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR TO FRANK s. BETZ, or HAMMOND, INDIANA.

LIGATURE-OONTAINER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed October 1, 1906. Serial No. 336,947-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BERTRAM KEATs HQLLISTER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ligature-Containers, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of this invention is to provide an improved form of container for surgical ligatures, arranged to hold a plurality of spools of ligatures and confining such spools so as to prevent the entangling of the ligatures while at the same time permitting ligatures to be freely unwound from either of the spools without withdrawing the spools from the container. This object is accomplished by the device shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a vertical section of a ligature container constructed according to this invention, one of the spools being shown in position. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showing all of the spools in position. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 2, showing the method of threading the ligatures through the supporting disk.

The device shown in the drawings comprises a re ceptacl e 4 in the form of a small substantially cylindrical jar preferably of glass and having in its bottom three equally spaced radially disposed ridges 5 arranged to form three pockets 6 in the bottom of the re ceptacle. Three spools '7 also formed of glass are placed in the receptacle, one in each of the pockets 6. These spools are of a size which will just fit within the pocket with their axes horizontal and radially disposed. The ridges 5 and side walls of the receptacle confine the spools against rolling about the interior of the receptacle.

A disk 9 of rubber or like material is supported in an annular groove 8 in the side walls immediately above the spools 7 and prevents the spools from being lifted over the ridges'5. The ligatures are wound upon the spools 7. The end of the ligature on each spool is threaded through the partition 9 by means of a needle. The rubber firmly grips the ligature and thus supports the end in convenient position to be grasped by the surgeon and withdrawn from the container as required.

The partition 9 is located a considerable distance below the rim of the side walls of the receptacle and the receptacle is filled with an asceptic liquid. The free ends of the ligatures 10 are submerged in the liquid and are then kept in an asceptic condition. The upper part of the receptacle 4 is screw-threaded to receive a threaded cap 11. A rubber gasket 12 is interposed between the rim of the receptacle 4 and the cap 1]. to insure a liquid-tight joint.

In operation, a ligature is wound upon each of the spools 7 and the free ends of these ligatures are threaded through the rubber disk 9 before the disk is placed in position. When the surgeon wishes to use one of the ligatures, he pulls upon the free end until a sufiicient length has been withdrawn. The spool unwinds as the ligature is withdrawn and rotates within the con fines of its individual pocket. The ridges 5 prevent the spools from shifting around and entangling the ligatures. When a portion of aligature has been cutoff, the remaining part of the free end is coiled up and submerged in the liquid above the diaphragm 9.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A ligature container comprising a receptacle for' liquid having ridges on its bottom to form a plurality of pockets, spools for ligatures loosely seated in said pockets, and a partition extending across the receptacle and adapted to confine the spools to their respective pockets and support the free ends of the ligatures.

2. A ligature container comprising a liquid, having a plurality of radially disposed ridges on its bottom to form pockets therein, a spool for ligatures loosely seated in each of said pockets, an inner annular groove in the walls of the receptacle above the spools, and below the top of the walls, and a disk of rubber seated in said groove.

3. A ligature container comprising a receptacle having upper and lower communicating compartments for liquid, a partition separating said compartments, a plurality of spools for ligatures in the lower compartment, projections integral with the walls of the lower compartment for indlvidually confining said spools, said partition being adapted to have the i'ree end of a ligature threaded through it to support such free end.

Signed at Chicago this 22nd day of September 1906.

BER'IRAM K. HOLLISTER.

Witnesses E. A. RUMMLnn, L. A. SMITH.

receptacle for 

